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News Corp. Starts Compensation Process for Phone Hacking Claims

News Corporation has begun a voluntary program that allows people who believe they have been the victims of phone hacking to apply online for compensation.

A statement issued Friday by the company’s British publishing unit, News International, urged possible victims to take advantage of the settlement plan, calling it a “speedy, cost-effective alternative to litigation.” Charles Gray, a former High Court judge and arbitration specialist, will assess the applications and serve as an independent adjudicator, News International said. There is no limit on how much the company might have to pay.

“It should provide very significant benefits to applicants such as avoiding the enormous expenses of court proceedings,” Mr. Gray said in the statement.

As an incentive to participate, News Corporation is offering possible victims a premium of 10 percent on whatever Mr. Gray chooses to award. The company also said it would pay applicants’ legal costs and ensure confidentiality.

The London police have said that the number of British citizens whose phones may have been hacked by reporters at the now-shuttered News of the World tabloid could reach as many as 5,795. On Wednesday, Chase Carey, News Corporation’s president and chief operating officer, said the company had “fully reserved” funds to pay for litigation related to hacking.

Last month Rupert Murdoch, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said that he would personally donate $1.6 million to charities chosen by the family of Milly Dowler, the murdered British teenager whose phone was hacked by the News Corporation tabloid. Additionally, the company said it would pay $3.2 million to the Dowler family.

The company first announced that it planned to offer a compensation program in April, a result of the 2006 arrest of a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, who was hired by News of the World and who admitted to intercepting voice mails. In June, News International confirmed that Mr. Gray would serve as an independent adjudicator, just before the phone-hacking scandal exploded in July. The program began accepting claims on Friday.